19 Times R. Kelly Stole The Show In 2013

The year was 2013. R. Kelly, the man deemed the most successful R&B artist of past 25 years — Mr. Bump N’ Grind himself — resurged onto the pop circuit. No, he was not itching for a comeback. Robert Sylvester Kelly was just getting started.

1. When a petition called for President Obama to legally change the national anthem to “Ignition (Remix).”

“…America has changed since Francis Scott Key penned our current anthem in 1814. Since then, we have realized that after the show, it’s the afterparty, and that after the party, it’s the hotel lobby, and—perhaps most importantly—that ‘round about four, you’ve got to clear the lobby, at which point it’s strongly recommended that you take it to the room and freak somebody.”

18. When he turned four random topics into sex ballads, proving he’s still the undisputed king of freak.

In a video interview with Rolling Stone, he was asked to write four sexy songs about unsexy subjects. On the spot. And he delivered—oh, did he deliver. “With my gift, I can pretty much write a song out of anything,” he boasted.

19. Which all goes to prove that R. Kelly, in 2013, was having a moment. A big, crooning, sex-laced moment.